Week 15 - Philadelphia, PA (The Birthplace of America)

Hello Family and Friends,

Philly is a very stately city. They have very large old buildings that are just beautiful. A lot of times we see large buildings in cities and they are empty. However, Philadelphia is keeping it's old structures alive as hotels, theaters and restaurants. There are so many places to eat. We will be walking down the street and I will want to eat at all the cute restaurants!

View from the river at night right before a storm.

An example of Philadelphia holding onto the old. This payphone still had a dial tone.

The boys chillin at a fountain in Rittenhouse Square

The city wasn't very dog friendly. Hard to find any green space in the city. Even the green spaces that did exist didn't want dogs. Made Bruce sit in front of this sign as an act of rebellion as we walked 8 or so blocks to get here just to discover he wasn't allowed.

Taking Atlas to his first dinner at a steakhouse, Butcher and Singer. He only liked the bread...that kid.

It's really wonderful that we were in such a great place with such a density of things to do because while there we memorialized the worst day of our lives. May 7, 2025, officially marked a year since we lost our oldest son and brother, Nathaniel Lyn McKinney. We worked hard to keep ourselves busy with tours and sightseeing so that we wouldn't be overwhelmed with sadness, but we were feeling our loss very deeply that day. Even though we were physically isolated from all of our friends and family we didn't feel alone. We had so many people reach out and let us know that they still think about Nathaniel and keep our family in their prayers, which was like a soothing salve to our wounded hearts. We also took some time during the day to read all the wonderful notes that people wrote at Nathaniel's memorial. It was the first time we were able to bring ourselves to read them. It was good for us to wait as we wouldn't have been able to get through them a year ago, the emotions were too raw, the loss too recent. Waiting some time to read the notes felt like little kisses from heaven. Nathaniel, we love you more than words can say and miss you more than our hearts can handle. We hate that you're not here with us, but are forever grateful that God gave you to us, even for just a little while.

Taking a picture with both our boys the only way we could in front of the iconic city hall building in Philadelphia.

Of course, there is Atlas to constantly keep our feet planted on this side of the earth. It isn't because he is our son or a entry level toddler who demands constant attention. It is because of who Atlas is as a person. Brett and I have noticed that Atlas does not have as many words as he should. However, we think we have figured out why. I have this theory that kids excell either physically or verbally. For example, Nathaniel was verbally very advanced. His bus driver told me that she loved talking to him because she could understand everything that he said at 3 years old. However, at almost 5 years old, Nathaniel still didn't know how to swim even though he loved the water. Atlas, on the other hand, started standing unassisted at 4 months old, walking at 8 months and has been on an upward motor trajectory ever since. However, we have no idea what he is trying to say most of the time. My theory isn't just based on my boys. I have checked with other moms and they confirm that their children will tend to be better at verbal or physical (definitely makes this level 1 peer reviewed evidence...not.) My theory is that when children are young both verbal and physical task take a lot of brain power. Their brain can only focus on excelling at one of those task at a time. Essentially the brain chooses verbal or motor. However, I think Atlas' motor may be in overdrive.

Atlas jumping over my foot on his way to jump off of the couch at 22 months.

Missed our stop on the bus and went a little out of town, but found a waterfall.

Can't get Atlas to sit still for nothing, but he was watching soccer.

At the end of the week Brett and I also took some time to get away and went to see a chinese ballet. We have been so very blessed with wonderful sitters from Care.com for Atlas whenever we make time for adult fun. Brett and I came back to the hotel part way through the night in order to change clothes and Atlas was just giggling. He was having so much fun that he didn't get even a little upset when we left for the second time.

We dressed up and felt like super stars! Had a great night out at Shen Yun in Philadelphia.

Local art at the boardwalk along the waterfront in Philadelphia.

Ok guys, it is time for me to drop some news. We are adjusting our travel plans and the focus of our trip. As we have been traveling through cities we have come face to face with how decisions at the federal level are affecting life at the local level. We have talked to multiple local parents who tell us that the programs at their kids schools either no longer exist or are being cut because there is no funding. It makes us think that whatever school programs we are looking at now, will look very different by the time Atlas starts school. There are a lot of unknown right now. As a result, we have decided to focus our travels on some of the great experiences that exist in this country now. We are shifting away from trying to find a place to live and going into full vacation mode. We are going to be traveling to national parks and some iconic all American places. We will be venturing away from cities and not staying in places for as long. There will be no more city ratings (not that we have done a great job keeping up with those) and we will be traveling through cities much faster. What we have planned thus far are New York, Acadia National Park, Detroit, Chicago, Badlands National Park, and... still planning. Our goal is to drive our way across the country to Olympic National Park in Washington state and then drop down to Las Vegas through California. We will stop at major attractions and parks along the way before we snake our way back across the country to make it to my middle brother's wedding by the end of August. Afterwards, we are going to head overseas! I would love to tell you which country, but we have not planned that far, yet. In classic McKinney style we are now really flying by the seat of our pants. We are together and we are having fun! Things are going to be moving much faster, but I will keep updating you guys as we go along.

Next stop, the city I am falling more and more in love with, New York!